A purple-patch for Dale Whitnell!

Once again Dale Whitnell shows the field a clean pair of heels! With win Number 2.

Travelling up the M6 to the most northerly of all of our events of 2011 the weather deteriorated with each passing mile, classic northern conditions greeted us on arrival at The Tytherington near Macclesfield, making first day very difficult for scoring with strong winds and constant rain sweeping the course.

Despite the awful weather the members of The Tytherington Club, obviously a hardy bunch, turned out in numbers to support the Jamega Professionals, who were battling not only the conditions but a very strong golf course.
Although a relatively small field for our first venture north of Watford Gap, only 6 players managed to break the par of 72.

Sam Robinson and Mark Laskey led the way both completing their rounds in excellent 3 under par scores.
 Leading the chasing pack were Michael Lowe, Adam Stott and Trevor Jones all scoring very respectable 2 under par 70’s.

The only other player to break par on this weather beaten day was Ian Brown, who managed  a one under par total, just ahead of a group on level, which included Ryan Harrison, Mark Smith and last week’s winner Dale Whitnell.
The second day, although overcast, was considerably less windy and the early indications were that scoring would be lower than day one.

This proved to be the case when early starter and local hero Steve Pullan carded a fine 2 under par 70. Two groups later James Ruth having travelled all the way up from St Mellion, in Cornwall added a magnificent 5 under par 67 to his first round score of 76 to assume the clubhouse lead at 1 under.

Tom Murray, the son of Andrew Murray the former European Open winner, starting to show some promise, carding a solid 2 under par to leave him on 1 over par for the tournament.

News came in from the on-course scorer that Dale Whitnell had stormed into the lead at 7 under par with just 2 holes to play. Hot on his heels and desperate to stay in touch, came the mercurial Michael Lowe, trying to improve on his on course total of 5 under par.

After a par on the difficult 17th hole Dale Whitnell was left needing a 6 or better to take the Clubhouse lead. A slightly pushed second shot left him a difficult chip to a pin cut at the very back on a very fast running green. His chip coming up some 4 feet short, with steely nerves rammed it firmly into the back of the hole to record a -7 tournament total and a tentative wait for the last 2 groups to record their scores.

No real need for concern as his 2 shot lead was maintained with just Michael Lowe snapping at his heels but coming up shy at 5 under.

Well done for the second week in a row, a very confident Dale Whitnell is now really looking forward to carrying this form through to the European Tour Qualifying School in just a few weeks time. We wish him well.

The Tytherington Club situated on the outskirts of the old silk town of Macclesfield offers a superb golfing experience with extensive leisure facilities.

A challenging tournament in more ways than one but “what a golf course”, superbly designed to test the best of the Pro’s but still an excellent course for all levels of player with many possible tee choices making it fair for all. Really well presented by Jim Cassidy and his team of enthusiastic green-keepers, many thanks to them, we will be back!